William H. Frey II, Ph.D.

Dr. William H. Frey II is Senior Research Director of the HealthPartners Alzheimer’s Research Center and Center for Memory and Aging at Regions Hospital in St. Paul as well as Professor of Pharmaceutics and faculty member in Neurology, Oral Biology and Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Frey’s noninvasive intranasal method for bypassing the blood-brain barrier to target therapeutic agents to the brain has captured the interest of physicians, pharmaceutical companies and scientists world-wide.The intranasal insulin treatment he developed for Alzheimer’s disease has been shown in human clinical trials to improve memory in both Alzheimer’s patients and normal adults. His intranasal therapeutic cell delivery and treatment methods have been validated in animals for Parkinson’s, stroke, MS and other brain disorders.

Dr. Frey’s patents, owned by Novartis, Stanford University, HealthPartners Research Foundation and others, target noninvasive delivery of therapeutic agents, including stem cells, to the brain and spinal cord for treating neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders and obesity. Dr. Frey’s non-invasive intranasal method for bypassing the blood-brain barrier to target CNS therapeutic agents to the brain while reducing systemic exposure and unwanted side effects has proven to be safe and effecitve. The intranasal insulin treatment he developed for Alzheimer’s disease has been shown in clinical trials to improve memory in both Alzheimer’s patients and normal adults. With over 100 publications in scientific and medical journals, Dr. Frey has been interviewed on Good Morning America, The Today Show, 20/20, All Things Considered and numerous other television and radio shows in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Articles about Dr. Frey’s research have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report and other magazines and newspapers around the world. Dr. Frey earned his BA in Chemistry at Washington University in 1969 and Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Case Western Reserve University in 1975.